PERSONAL
VERB MAGAZINE
VOLUME 1
ISSUE 1
FEBRUARY 2014
PAGE 6
Mad Men actress,
Teyonah Parris
rocking her
natural hair at
the 19th Annual
Screen Actors
Guild Awards
held last year.
LOVING THE HAIR I HAVE
By Brittney Harris
Upper 6, Chaguanas North Secondary
It took me about approximately 17 years
and many different hairstyles to realise that
my natural hair was the best. When I was a
little girl I dreaded those Sunday evenings
when my mother sat down with a comb and
put corn-rows in my hair to go to school.
Tears would stream down my cheeks
and sometimes it resulted in a comb hitting
my back. I went from relaxer, to Jheri curl,
to short hair, back to relaxer and then to
braids to realise that I was fed-up.
Then one day I suddenly took an interest
in Afro hair-dos. It all started on Facebook.
As I began to explore all the natural hair
pages I began to take an interest in the way
natural hair looked.
I began to appreciate my hair as a young
black woman. I started wearing Bantu Knot
twists and stopped relaxing my hair. It
eventually became frustrating to maintain
this style as I had to redo it at least every
two days. Eventually, I made the final decision and did the infamous “big chop”.
For those who don’t know what I mean,
the “big chop” – according to one the most
popular natural hair blogs, www.natural-
lycurly.com, is the process of cutting off the
relaxed or permed ends of your hair when it
is transitioning from chemically processed
hair to natural hair.
For me at last, it was freedom, a burden
was lifted.
Many people wanted to know where my
Bantu Knot hair went but I was making way
for the real Afro, my natural hair.
It was a tough decision, I thought I would
have missed those relaxed ends but I have
no regrets and I have to say it was one of
the best decisions I’ve made in my entire
life. Though my hair texture isn’t as manageable as others, I appreciate the hair God
gave me.
Sometimes my mother behaves as
though she would prefer if I relax my hair
so it can be easier to manage but I refuse to
go back to that “creamy crack”. I realised
that all those years it wasn’t me who hated
my hair, but I listened to the criticisms of
my mother while there were other people
who wished they had hair like mine.
If parents taught their children to love
their hair, many girls wouldn’t have so
many self-esteem issues and would be
more confident. The best hair is the hair
that is on our heads.
I believe it is a person’s decision to do
whatever they want with their hair, that’s
their choice, but just because society says
your hair isn’t good means that you have to
listen to them.
Clog your ears towards those negative
comments. It takes a process of self-introspection, growing, discovering your true
identity and finding yourself to realise what
you want.
People can’t determine what career you
choose, what religion you adhere to, and
definitely what hair you want to rock on
your head. If people make all of your decisions, you’ll live a very unhappy life.
I want to say a big thank you to the
women who wear their natural hair proud;
you have most definitely inspired me to
go back to my roots. When people see a
woman with natural hair, it grabs their attention. I still stare and marvel at women
with natural hair and the really “dope”
styles they wear.
I have not only been inspired but I have
inspired other young ladies to go back to
their roots. Some of us are really tired of
those straight hairs and split ends. Natural hair is definitely coming back one “big
chop” at a time.